Review: Sound Of Metal

I’d heard a little about Sound Of Metal before the Oscar announcements with some pretty strong reviews catching my attention, once it got the Best Picture nomination and Riz Ahmed – and actor I’ve enjoyed since Four Lions over a decade ago – got his first Best Actor nod, I made a point to try and see this as soon as I could. And I’m glad I did, despite not being deaf and having only a passing interest in the Metal Genre, I found that at the film’s heart was a low-key but powerful story about adjustment and addiction to normalcy.

The film follows Ruben Stone, a drummer for the metal duo Blackgammon he plays in with his vocalist girlfriend Lou Berger, the two of them live gig to gig in an R.V. across America without a care in the world. That is until Ruben is struck with sudden hearing loss, losing 70 – 80% of his hearing in both ears with the possibility of losing more as time passes and cochlear implants running upwards of $40,000 - $80,000.

Ruben is initially reluctant to give up on his drumming despite the doctors warning to avoid loud noises, but after experiencing a panic attack he confides in Lou who takes them off tour for his safety. Fearing a relapse from the previously drug addicted Ruben, Lou seeks help from his sponsor and is able to find a shelter for recovering addicts with a focus on the deaf community, the two of them meet the shelter’s leader Joe who welcomes Ruben but not Lou, Ruben is against leaving her, saying that all he needs is the money for the implants, but Lou is willing to do what she needs to in order to help him so she leaves him at the shelter, forcing Ruben to start his recovery whether he wants to or not.

That covers a fair chunk of the first act but it’s necessary to get a full context to understand what comes later in the film, this is actually a much slower film than I was expecting with a large chunk of the 2nd act focussing almost solely on Ruben’s experiences with Joe and the deaf community as he learns about how to handle his new disability and still live a relatively normal life. Admittedly I found it to go on a little too long but for a community I rarely see in films I found it an interesting look into their lives through the eyes of a newly deaf person.

Plus this softer focus is needed for the third act, which not to spoil but Ruben makes some decisions that take the film in a different direction, it’s not horrible, in fact it’s likely not what you’re thinking about because the whole film has this great ability to avoid tired clichés or needless side stories to focus solely on Ruben, but the reasoning behind his decisions and what they mean for what he’s gone through is subtly devastating with the last 30-40 minutes showcasing the fallout that leads into one of the most bittersweet endings I’ve seen in quite some time.

Acting is the film’s powerhouse with the main duo of Ruben and Joe delivering some of the year’s best performances but the supporting cast held their own with Olivia Cooke doing some solid work with her limited screentime as Lou, her absence from the film is definitely felt with her opening scenes with Ruben showing a troubled but loving character who is fully supportive of Ruben’s health and wellbeing – often more than he is of his own – which is contrasted against her final scenes where the love and the care are still evident, but it’s not quite the same as it once was. As much as I think Cooke could’ve been in the film more, the heartbreak of her absence is necessary or this story.

Paul Raci takes on the role of Joe and damn near takes the film as his own without even trying, Joe is a recovering alcoholic and Vietnam vet who lost his hearing in the war so he knows exactly what Ruben is going through and the frustration he’s feeling, he is nothing but friendly and welcoming to Ruben, taking him under his wing and introducing him to his community. Since Raci himself is a Child of Deaf Adults (or CODA for short) he is well-versed in American Sign Language so his confidence allows him to focus purely on Joe’s character rather than Joe being deaf, and while Raci doesn’t get the big scenes like Ahmed does he’s still given a lot to work with in showing this friendly, understanding person. Which is what makes his best scene all the harder to watch, not to reveal too much but once the third act hits Joe has an argument with Ruben and the amount of restraint and disappointment on Joe’s face is tough to see and it makes the whole exchange just sit in your stomach like a stone. Raci’s whole performance is great but it’s that scene which absolutely sells his performance.

The film though absolutely belongs to Riz Ahmed as Ruben, far and away this is his journey and we’re experiencing the highs and lows along with him. What makes Ruben such an interesting character is that he does have a lot of flaws and they factor into his character, making him almost tragic in a way, when he first learns about his hearing loss his first instinct is to ignore the doctor’s warnings and go back to drumming. Even when he finally accepts help his mind is set on the easy fix of the expensive implants because he doesn’t have it in him to give up on his old way of life, it’s rough going at first but Ahmed never falls into the trap of making Ruben unlikeable, he’s angry and his frustrated but understandably so with how much he’s losing and how quickly he loses it, it’s a downward spiral that even by the end he’s not completely finished with. There’s some reference to Ruben’s past experience with drug use that might suggest a possible relapse but the film never goes that way, instead Ruben’s addiction is to his normal life, no matter what joys he’s faced with or what obstacles he overcomes, Ruben is solely focussed on returning to that normal life and Ahmed’s ability to make Ruben come off as jittery and anxious without going too far as to actually seem like he’s on drugs is incredible, the whole third act after Ruben makes his choice is carried by the sheer hurt in Ahmed’s facial expressions that the life he’s fought so desperately to reclaim is moving further and further away from him. This is a career best performance for Ahmed with the little tics and body language absolutely carrying this heart-breaking and utterly tragic character throughout this painful journey.

First time director Darius Marder takes on the small scale story on one man’s experiences with a new found disability and uses that as a jumping off point for some high-scale production work. One thing that will immediately jump out to you is the use of sound, often we’ll hear what Ruben is hearing with muffled noises and distorted ringing and sometimes even absolute silence, it’s a simple but effective way to get into Ruben’s head and understand what’s he’s going through, both the bad like when he first experiences hearing loss and is struggling to understand the severity of his situation, and the good as in the scene where he and young deaf boy share a moment by passing vibrations through a playpark slide. All of it leads up to the third act again and how it’s used there perfectly encompasses the themes of the film and the core message, it’s rare that I’ve seen sound design being so integral to a film’s story but this does it and does it so goddamn well that I’m surprised it’s not been used like this before.

Outside of the sound design, Marder presents the film in a very low-key but no less impressive manner, the whole thing is shot with a handheld camera giving it more realistic feel which considering the very human errors made by Ruben makes the most sense. That sense of reality permeates throughout the film by Marder’s refusal to let the film get overblown, everything is very muted, very subtle which allows the actors – particularly Ahmed – to portray an absolute ton with their body language. Due to Ruben’s hearing loss this is often necessary to feel the tone of a scene since there are many scenes with little to no dialogue but again, this factors into Marder’s tone, he doesn’t want the film to be distracted by emotional baggage, instead he focuses on the here and now, moments of joy aren’t big declarations, they’re little moments of happiness like playing games with children or telling a joke, sadness isn’t breaking down into tears and wailing, it’s the broken look in your eye when someone you thought you trusted has broken that trust. Even right from the start when Ruben finds out about his hearing loss his reaction wasn’t to break down or lost his mind in anger, he was stunned by the news and trying to process something he never thought he’s ever have to deal with.

Sound Of Metal definitely deserves the be included as one of the year’s best films, from its emotionally devastating storyline to its powerful acting to its phenomenal sound design, the whole film is designed to show an insight into the world of hearing loss whilst also delivering a story that is uniquely Ruben’s, his experiences of frustration, happiness and fear are universal but his stubbornness and tragic decisions are all him and Ahmed’s performance coupled with Raci’s caring Joe, Cooke’s devoted Lou and Marder’s subtle direction all work together to create a fantastic, heart-wrenching experience.

8.5/10